Dew drives, rain falls
by cyberline
Summary: Season 4 fic, Willow/Graham. There's more to Graham than the average Initiative soldier...
1. Computer Science TA

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own anything; they all belong to Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy and Angel!!!**

_Washington D.C. June, 1998_

Professor Walsh sat at her desk watching the screen monitoring the confrontation room, the room where the soldiers got their first encounter with a hostile, usually a behavior modified vampire. The soldiers then either got terrified and was let out of the room and never contacted by this part of the army again or they fought the hostile and were either beaten breathless or were among the very few who actually managed to hold their fear under control and shoot the hostile with the teaser gun and those were the men professor Walsh picked out for her special unit. 

This time, however, something had happened that nobody in the building had ever seen before. The soldier they were trying had killed the first vampire before the vampire even had a time to react. They had sent in another and another and when the soldier dusted the third vampire, the commanders went in and took the wooden stake away from him and told him to try use another weapon. Well, he did, he decapitated the fourth vampire after a brilliant fight. It was obvious this soldier was highly trained in the martial arts. 

After the forth vampire was dust, they had run out of vampires and therefore professor Walsh had ordered to send in another kind of hostile, another kind of demon. As in the previous confrontations the soldier fought very well, but showed sign of tiredness and after a beautiful roundhouse kick he finally came to his senses and used the teaser gun. 

Professor Walsh sat back in her chair, a smile on her face, as she watched the now stunned demon being dragged out of the confrontation room. "Very well, agent Miller, welcome to the Initiative." 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

_Sunnydale, December, 1999_

Willow glanced up at the clock on the wall, sighing a little when she saw it was 40 minutes left of the class. A theory class in JAVA was exactly as boring as it sounded when you thought of it, Willow thought and longed for getting to a computer and get on with it in reality instead of just listen to her professors ramble. 

She sighed again and looked over towards the window where their TA sat looking almost as bored as Willow felt. She smiled a little when she saw that and gave him a closer look. Oh, he was handsome all right, that she already knew. Not the nerd you expect to TA a computer science class, no, Graham Miller was really good looking. He was maybe a little taller than the average male and very well muscled. He had dark brown, very short hair and those amazing crystal blue eyes. Oh, he was gorgeous....*and so way out of your league!* Willow mentally kicked herself for just looking at him. 

Willow actually managed to concentrate on the professor's speech for the remaining half hour, but was so relieved when the class was dismissed. She stood and collected her books and out of the corner of her eye she saw the other two girls in this class walk up to Graham, probably to ask something totally irrelevant while flirting with him. Willow rolled her eyes and wondered if anyone could be more obvious. Then she sighed for the third time in one hour while Graham, as usually, smiled and seemed flattered by the girls' attention. *Well, what did you expect?* Willow scolded herself and left without looking back. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Graham sighed inwards while forcing himself to smile and answer the girls' very basic questions. It wasn't the first time he asked himself how some of the students managed to get into the class. Take these two girls for example, they didn't have the slightest idea what an object was and he doubted they had ever given the JAVA hierarchy a second thought. They also took almost all of his time during the classes in the computer lab because they didn't seem to be able to write a single row without help. Oh, but they were pretty, or so Forrest had told him after meeting them on last weeks party. Graham had never thought about their looks, he just thought they were annoying. 

*If only they could be like that girl.* Graham thought and followed the tiny redhead with his eyes as she left the classroom. When the two girls finally left he went over to the desk and picked up the papers he was going to grade this evening. He smiled to himself as he thought about what Willow's paper was going to be like...it was always a joy to read her papers. She was really smart and maybe she had found solutions on the problems in the assignment that he himself never would have thought of...it wouldn't be the first time for that. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


	2. Moccachinos and Memory Lane

**Part 2:**

"Willow. Willow! Earth to Willow!!" 

Willow jumped at the slayer's shouting. "Geez Buffy, does the slayer strength go to your lungs too?" She asked and turned from daydreaming by the window to face her friend. 

Buffy smiled and bounced up and down on Willow's bed. "You wanna go have moccachinos?!" 

"Eh, I would say no more caffeine for you for the next three months or so..." Willow teased, but was glad her friend was so happy. 

"Oh, I'm just happy and I want everybody else to be happy too, hence moccachinos for Willow!" She watched Willow's dream clouded eyes more carefully, reaching out with her slayer senses. "Hm, or maybe a nice, handsome, new guy for Willow?" Buffy stopped bouncing and sat down. 

"Yeah, dream on..." Willow sighed and flopped down on her bed. 

"There is a guy who has raised your interest?!" Buffy asked both curious and excited. It wasn't so long since Oz left Willow with a broken heart or in more accurate words; a broken Willow who messed up her magic, so as much as it excited Buffy that her friend had noticed a new guy it also surprised her. 

"Well, I don't know. You could say he has sparked my interest, but I wouldn't go any further right now. I don't wish to go down that road again anytime soon...been there, done that, got the T-shirt, you know?" 

"Yeah, yeah...so, is he hot?" 

Willow had to smile at the naughty look in Buffy's eyes and admitted: "He's good looking okay, as in tall dark and handsome, but he is so way out of my league... " 

"Will, don't go there! You are beautiful, smart and funny not to mention kind and caring. What guy wouldn't want you?!" Buffy frowned at her friend's low self-esteem. Willow didn't know how wonderful she was and the slayer just wanted to grab her friend and punch the knowledge into her head, but that surely wouldn't help, so she just growled a little wishing there would soon be a guy around who noticed all the willowy qualities and who also was nice, normal and 100% human. *In Sunnydale? What are the odds of that happen?!* Buffy sighed inwards. 

"Thank you. But he is constantly surrounded by pretty girls, the other two girls in my JAVA class flirt with him all the time and he seems to be smitten and I've seen him at parties with girls practically drooling all over him..." 

"He's in your computer class?" Buffy asked confused. 

"No, he's our TA." 

"Oh. So he's older?" 

"Well, probably. Aren't TAs usually seniors?" 

"Yeah, Riley is...so what's the name of this guy?" 

"Graham Miller and I'm not falling head over heals for him, and I really hope I won't ever do the literal version of that because that would be so horribly embarrassing, I just enjoy looking at him, okay?" Willow ended her mini-ramble with a sigh and sat up. "Are there going to be any moccachinos for Willow?" 

"You bet it is!" Buffy smiled and pulled her friend up from the bed to take her to the 'Espresso Pump'. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Thank you for knocking." Graham said with irony evident in his voice and turned around from his desk to look at his two friends in the doorway. 

"Eh, sorry?" Riley smiled goofily and went over to see what his friend was doing at his desk at 8 p.m. a Friday night. "Papers? You are grading papers on a Friday night?! That's a thing not even I would do!" 

"Why are you here?" Graham asked now impatiently. 

"We obviously came to save you from yourself." Forrest grinned. "And to take you for a beer at the pub." 

"Thanks, but no thanks." 

"Why? What could possibly be better than a night at the campus pub with a beer in your hand, surrounded by beautiful examples of the female population, freshman girls who would bend to your smallest wish..." 

"Can't you ever think of anything else, Gates?" Graham was slightly annoyed. 

Riley noticed how ill at ease his friend was and wondered why. Graham was one of his closest friends and since Riley knew he wasn't gay, his actions were even more difficult to understand. "You really don't like girls?" Riley asked puzzled. 

"Not the ones who are all over you before you have said as much as 'hi'..." 

"Damn, what's not to like about that?!" Forrest objected and the other two rolled their eyes at him. 

Riley smiled. "I take it you are not joining us for a beer then?" 

"Correct." Graham answered and returned to his papers before the other two had even left the room. 

"Alright, come on Gates." Riley said and dragged a confused Forrest with him outside and shut the door. 

Graham sighed relieved when his friends had left. They were his best friends all right and he loved them both, but sometimes he just felt the need to be alone. After locking his door he opened his wallet and pulled out a picture from behind his drivers license. It was a school photo of a very beautiful girl at about seventeen. She had long hair in the same colour as red gold, eyes blue as a cloud free sky and she looked happy. 

"I miss you..." He whispered to the girl in the picture and felt a slight pain in his heart as he closed his eyes and remembered the day that picture was taken. It was the photo for the yearbook in senior year of high school. She had sparkled with happiness that day; just turned seventeen, a week into a relationship with her first real boyfriend and not a hint of suspicion that she had only two months left to live... "I'm lost without you, you know..." Graham looked at her a last time before putting the picture back in his wallet. 

As usually after a painful journey down memory lane, Graham was too worked up to stay in his room. He looked at the alarm clock, 9.27 p.m. the sun was down...not a very safe time to be outside alone, ah, what the hell, he could use some action! 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


	3. Vampire Slaying

**Part 3:**

Buffy and Willow walked back towards Stevenson Hall after a nice girl talk over some moccachinos and a very quiet patrol in the park. Buffy actually wondered where all the demons and vampires had gone, but it was quite possibly the commando guys had something to do with it. Or Giles would probably soon come up with something apocalyptic that made all the demons lay low. 

When they passed the last copse before campus, they were alerted by the sounds of fighting. After exchanging a look Buffy and Willow hurried towards the sounds and upon reaching the glade inside, Buffy stopped dead in her tracks causing Willow to run into her. "What is it?" Willow frowned worriedly. 

"It's a guy fighting vamps." Buffy whispered surprised. 

"Eh, Buffy, this is Sunnydale. Hellmouth, remember?" Willow teased and came up on Buffy's side to see what about the vampires that had surprised the slayer. Her eyes widened in shock when she recognized the guy who was fighting the vampires like a professional. "Graham?!" she gasped. 

Buffy turned to look at her friend, bothered. "That's your guy? Maybe you should be a little careful around him..." 

"Well, isn't it a good sign he's not paralyzed with fear, but can take care of himself in a hellmouthy situation?" 

"Yeah, it would appear that way, but Willow, he fights like me." 

And indeed he did. There were three vampires left and when one of them grabbed Graham from behind, Buffy rushed out to help him, but before she reached him he freed himself. By leaning a little backwards and kicking his right leg straight up to his shoulder, he managed to kick the vampire in the head. That knock gave him enough time to turn around and stake the evil bloodsucker. 

In the middle of the fight, Graham was just glad that somebody in this godforsaken town came to his aid, he didn't see whom, but whomever it was the helper fought well, because the vampire was dusted in record time. After releasing a wooden arrow from his mini-crossbow into the heart of the last vampire, Graham turned around to thank his helper and couldn't keep from making a surprised sound when he faced Riley's little blonde girlfriend. 

Buffy let her eyes wander over the yummy piece of man in front of her. Oh yeah, he was Willow's love interest, but this time she had really found some eye candy. She let the slayer senses out again and noticed his clothing - jeans, sneakers and a sweater not even army green...his weapon was a wooden stake and the mini-crossbow with wooden arrows, not the teaser gun Spike had told them the commando boys had shot him with. Okay, so, not a commando, but still...there was something about this guy...something...familiar?...no, couldn't be, she had just met him. 

Buffy pushed the slayer back in her mind and decided to be perceptive but not too suspicious of him. "Hi, I'm Buffy the vampire slayer, who are you?" She smiled sweetly and saw his eyes widen a bit and sighed a little. She expected a 'What?!' sounding like she had lost it completely, but it never came. 

Willow walked up to them just in time to hear Buffy tell Graham she was the slayer and see him look at her friend warily. "Are you okay?" Willow asked him, worry evident in her voice. 

Graham turned to the soft voice speaking. He couldn't hear the words through the whirlwind that suddenly had appeared in his head, but he liked the voice. Normally he would have been surprised (not to mention worried) to see the pretty redhead from JAVA class out after sunset, but after his resent shock nothing could surprise him more this evening and in the company of a slayer she would be more than safe, so he just smiled at her. "Hi, Willow." 

Willow's heart made a happy jump at his words. *He knows my name!* 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


	4. You're pretty

**Part 4:**

Buffy looked at the young man and frowned when the expected reaction didn't come. "You are not gonna tell me I'm hallucinating?" She asked curiously. 

"No, I'm going to sit down now." Graham looked around for something to sit on, but was interrupted by Willow. 

"Maybe we could take this conversation to more safe surroundings, like our dorm room?" 

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Buffy said and took Graham by the arm as they started towards Stevenson Hall and he was too shocked to do anything else than follow the girls. 

Willow walked silently behind Buffy and Graham and although she knew Buffy just held him because he looked like he could collapse any second, Willow was still a little jealous. All the men loved Buffy and she didn't have to do anything, she just had to be there for them to love. Take Angel, the more than 240-year-old vampire, who fell for a 16 year old girl and a slayer nonetheless. Not to mention Xander. There Willow had gone longing for him to notice her in a more romantic way than 'help me with my geometry' and then Buffy had just walked up the stairs to the school and 'bam!' Xander fell (to the ground actually, but...). Then Riley, their Psych TA. When they first met him it was Willow he talked to, but later on he of course got feelings for Buffy and Willow being the great friend she always was, gave him clues how to catch the girl. Well, maybe Graham was different than every other guy? *Yeah, fat chance!* Willow snorted and looked up. They had arrived to the dorm during her mind-ramble. It wasn't that she was angry at Buffy for being such a guy magnet; it was just that she wished love could be fair. 

During the walk to campus and the dorms, Graham's mind had cleared up a bit and he started to wonder how to get out of this situation. Normal people weren't supposed to know about vampires, belong to an army phalanx that captured demons, know how to fight vampires the proper way and they were definitely not supposed to know about slayers. *And I got a 'D' in covert ops...Great!* Graham glanced at the blonde slayer who held him in a firm grip and the other thing he'd noticed about her popped up in his head. "Hey, you are Riley's girlfriend!" He blurted out as they walked into a dorm room. 

"Do you know Riley?" Willow asked curious and closed the door behind them. Buffy let go of Graham and he sat down on Willow's chair. 

"Yes, he's my C...one of my best friends, actually." Graham smiled at the pretty red head. Wow, she had really beautiful eyes, emerald green. *Is it okay if I drown in them now?* 

His thoughts were interrupted by Buffy's simple question about if Riley knew about what went bump in the night. Graham just nodded, still lost in Willow's eyes. "You're pretty." 

Willow blushed at his words, but smiled shyly. "Thanks." 

Graham looked horrified. "I said that out loud, didn't I?!" 

"Yes, but don't worry, you are right, she is pretty and I wish more guys would tell her." Buffy smiled, happy that this handsome guy had noticed her best friend. 

Graham thought about that for a second and decided he didn't agree with her friend. He didn't wish more guys would tell Willow she was pretty; he wanted to be the only one to do that. Whoa, you have talked to the girl, what, twice and now you're ready to marry her?! Well, she isn't like the other girls here... 

"And you can tell her again soon, but can we go back to the business here?" Buffy asked. 

"Business? Okay, yes..." 

"So do you and Riley go out at nights to stake vampires?" 

"What?! No! Oh, God, you can't tell Riley what you saw tonight!" Graham's eyes pleaded to Buffy. 

"Why? You said he knows about vampires." Buffy was confused. She had been happy to hear her new boyfriend knew what went bump in the night, which meant she might tell him about her nightly activities. 

"Yes, but he doesn't know about slayers and that part of the deal..." 

The two girls looked at him in confusion. Riley knew about vampires and demons and, well, at least vampires, but he didn't know about slayers and maybe not about staking vamps? Willow made a quick search through her memory of the things that were said earlier and smiled at Graham. 

"You're one of the commandos, aren't you, and Riley is your CO." 

Graham watched the girls warily, not sure what to say. Of course the right thing was to say he didn't know what she was talking about, but something told him that wouldn't help. So after discarding that option, he decided to tell the truth; they were after all a slayer and her best friend, hence they knew how to keep the knowledge for themselves. "Yes, I am and yes, he is." 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


	5. Hostile 17

**Part 5:**

"Okay, can I just quote Spike here: 'What the bloody hell'?!" Buffy just stared at Graham then Willow and back again. 

"This is all classified, you understand that, don't you?" Graham worriedly asked the girls. 

"You don't have to say anything if it could get you into trouble." Willow told him and went over to her bed and sat down wishing Buffy would sit down too, but she had started to pace between the door and the windows looking very troubled. Willow and Graham sat like two cats in front of a tennis game on TV watching her for a while not really wanting to disturb her thoughts. 

After thinking about what she just learned, turning it over and over in her head and coming close to wear out the carpet Buffy finally stopped and sat down on her bed opposite to Willow. "You're right, it's not your story to tell." Buffy told Graham. "And I won't tell him I know about you guys." She smiled at the obvious relieve on his face. 

"But there are other things we can talk about." Willow said. 

"Yes it is, Graham, how come you know about slayers and stuff?" Buffy looked at him curious. 

Graham cringed, suddenly very uncomfortable and the two girls exchanged a look of concern. He was quiet for a long moment before he finally seemed to have decided to tell them his story. However, what came out was just a very short statement: "I knew a slayer once." 

They waited for him to continue, but when that didn't happen the girls didn't really know what to say. Of course, any slayer somebody had known - except Buffy and Faith that was - was now dead. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Willow said. Both girls felt really sorry for him and a bit guilty for hoping that the slayer he'd known hadn't been his girlfriend. If she had been, this guy was far from ready to go into a new relationship yet. The defeated look in Willow's eyes told Buffy her friend had come to the same, depressing conclusion. 

"If you don't mind, maybe you could tell me about you instead? Are there more people that know about your 'sacred duty'?" Graham's question brought the girls back to the present and they started to tell him about the 'Scoobies', actually made him laugh a few times. 

"You know you would make a great Scooby." Willow said and looked at him expectantly. She probably didn't have a chance with him the way she had hoped for just moments ago, but she still wanted to get to know him, especially now after they found out he knew about vampires and stuff. It surely was more to him than just the 'studly college guy surrounded by beautiful girls' she used to see him as. 

"You mean you would take me in?" Graham asked surprised, but couldn't hide the hope in his voice. Walking around on his own to dust a vampire the occasional night wasn't really that satisfying, maybe working with a slayer once again could be what he needed. Not to mention the opportunity to work with Willow, to get to know her without being interrupted by irrelevant people. 

"See it like this, soldier boy, we could use all the help we could get and considering the way you fought those vamps tonight, you have my vote." Buffy smiled at him. 

"We have to know one thing though." Willow started, a little unsure how she was going to put this. "Do you think every demon and vampire is evil, just by default?" 

Graham watched her a minute before answer. "What? Spike sought you out after he'd escaped and become aware of the fact that he couldn't feed anymore?" 

Willow just drew in a deep breath not knowing how to answer that without having Graham running away and not wanting to have anything to do with her again, but she didn't have to worry; this fabulous guy just cocked an eyebrow at her and smiled. "I figured as much." 

"You guys actually ask your lab rats for their name?" Buffy was actually more surprised by this than by the fact that Graham really had figured out they had Spike. 

"No. To the others he is Hostile 17, I just happen to have met him before and that's part of a story I will tell you another time, but I can tell you I wouldn't stake him if I met him." 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


	6. The dream

Part 6: The Dream  
  
Willow knew she was dreaming when she walked over the meadow of her childhood summer location. She hadn't been back there since she was eight and her parents had started to leave her home alone during both their business trips and vacations, but she had dreamed of it before. So, even if this wasn't real, she still enjoyed the event.  
  
When she reached the small lake at the end of the meadow, she saw a girl standing on the bridge, the skirt of her white chiffon-dress moving a little in the gentle breeze. Willow walked down there, curious. There wasn't usually anyone else there when she dreamed about this place. When she approached, the girl turned around and smiled at her. She was really beautiful with blue eyes and long hair in a reddish colour Willow had never seen before. There was something familiar about her and yet not.  
  
"Hi Willow." She said and even her voice was beautiful.  
  
"Hi. Do I know you?" Willow asked a bit uncertain.  
  
"No, we never met. I wish we had, but now is not the time for regrets. I'm here to encourage you."  
  
"Encourage me?"  
  
"To not give up hope."  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Love." The beautiful girl smiled and faded away.  
  
"No, wait!"  
  
Willow sat up and looked into the concerned eyes of her best friend. "Bad dream?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No, not really, just confusing." Willow answered and told her about the girl in her dream and they discussed it for a while, coming to the conclusion that Willow - being a wicca and all - probably had met a real spirit and therefore the words said could be of some relevance. "Okay, I won't give up hope of love...yet" She sighed.  
  
"No, you won't." Buffy smiled and pointed at the still sleeping form of Graham behind Willow.  
  
Willow turned around and her eyes widened for a moment, before remembering last night and how the three of them had talked through most of it. They all still had their clothes on, but apparently sleep had got the better of them and somehow Graham had ended up on the bed beside Willow.  
  
She looked at him and smiled tenderly. He looked so young and innocent while sleeping, very far from the soldier she now knew he was and Willow started to wonder how old he really was; he seemed younger than Riley and the other TAs she had met, but that could be only her imagination.  
  
Suddenly something started to beep with an annoying tone and Graham sat bolt upright in the bed, looking around and wondering where on earth he was. Then he saw and recognized the two girls in the room and remembered last night's revelations. "Oh, good morning." He smiled at them.  
  
"Morning. Your Tamagochi sounds hungry." Buffy teased and he turned his attention to the beeping noise.  
  
Graham read the number and turned off his beeper. "Can I use your phone?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
After making the quick call he told the girls he had to leave right away. So they all made arrangements to meet at the 'Espresso pump' that night, before going to Giles for Graham's first 'Scooby meeting'.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
At 8.30 am Riley stood at the window in his room at Lowell House when he saw Graham hurry up the front stairs. He smiled a little and went out in the corridor catching Graham when he got up to the second floor. "Hey, been out all night, ay?" Riley teased and surveyed his friend from head to toe.  
  
"Yeah, so?" Graham raised an eyebrow, but couldn't stop a little smile from appearing on his lips when he thought of the previous night. Those two ladies were really nice and interesting to talk to, in contrast to just about every other girl he'd met in Sunnydale.  
  
Riley noticed the smile and the elated look in Graham's eyes. "Pretty?"  
  
"Very. Nice, caring and intelligent too."  
  
"Sounds like good qualities. Actually it sounds like a girl I've thought of introduce you to."  
  
"Yeah?" Graham asked, but wasn't really interested in any girls Riley or Forrest wanted him to meet. He'd done that mistake before and then struggled for months to get rid of the girls.  
  
"Yeah, she's in Professor Walsh's Psych101, she's also Buffy's best friend so I thought it might be..." Riley interrupted himself when he noticed the amused look on his friend's face. "What?!"  
  
"Oh, you see, I already know Willow." Graham said and went to his room, leaving a very surprised and dumbstruck friend behind.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


	7. Shopping at the mall

Part 7: Shopping at the Mall  
  
Willow was happy, more so than she had been for a while now, actually she hadn't been in such a bright mode since before the whole Veruca incident. Wow, she didn't even feel like a sword tore into her heart and chopped it into little pieces at the mere thought of Oz anymore. Of course it still hurt a lot, but Willow felt for the first time since her trip down to despair that she was moving in the right direction - up and forward.  
  
She also had to admit that Graham had a huge part in the cause of her happiness. *He thinks I'm pretty!* She thought for the fiftieth time in ten minutes. Although she might not be ready for a new relationship at this moment, she still felt attracted to him and she wanted to get to know him better. He seemed to want that too, even if both Willow and Buffy assumed he still mourned his late slayer-girlfriend. But maybe later there was a possibility for Willow and Graham. Who knew what the future had in tow...  
  
Willow was happy, so happy she had let Buffy talk her into a shopping trip to the mall. They had now visited most of the boutiques and Willow had bought at least three articles of clothing she didn't know if she was ever going to wear, but Buffy had told her the shirt, skirt or dress was just so right and Willow hadn't been able to resist the temptation to buy something not so 'willowy'.  
  
"Really Will, I'm so glad you wanted to go shopping today, this blouse will be perfect for the party tonight!" Buffy beamed when they left the last boutique and went out on the square to have some lunch before they headed back to campus. Willow sighed, she had lost count of how many boutiques they had been to and how many fitting-rooms they had queued for.  
  
Buffy's words suddenly reached Willow's brain: "Party, what party?!"  
  
"The frat party at Lowell House, Riley invited us both, didn't I tell you yesterday?"  
  
"Oh, yes you really did, I just forgot it in the middle of everything..."  
  
"In the middle of meeting a really handsome guy who is obviously into you too?" Buffy teased and Willow of course blushed. Her eyes widened a bit when she looked over Willow's shoulder. "A guy who is waving at us from a restaurant."  
  
Willow turned around and indeed Graham was waving at them from a window of one of the more fancy restaurants in the mall area. The girls soon understood that he didn't just wave to them; he wanted them to come over. They exchanged a glance and then walked over the square. When they reached the building, Graham came to the door and met them. "Hi, I don't want to spoil your day of shopping fun, but if you haven't eaten yet, may we buy you lunch?" He asked and seemed very eager to get them inside, something that amused Buffy and she smiled a little teasingly at her friend.  
  
"Sure, I'm hungry." Buffy smiled.  
  
"Thank you." Willow smiled when he held up the door for them.  
  
He escorted them back to the table he'd been sitting at and there his company rose and Graham introduced them: "Willow, Buffy, this is my brother Jordan Miller. Jordy, meet Willow Rosenberg and Buffy...eh?"  
  
"Summers." Buffy finished for him and shook hand with the handsome man, who looked like an older, taller and not so serious version of Graham, and the little flinch he made at the mention of her name didn't go unnoticed by her.  
  
The four of them sat down at the table and a waiter came with menus for the girls; the guys had already ordered their food.  
  
After they had placed the orders Buffy looked at the guys, one at the time, and asked: "So, did you just long for our company or did you have an ulterior motive with this?"  
  
"Well, both actually." Graham smiled and put down his water glass. "You see, Jordy is an attorney, assistant districts attorney in L.A. to be exact, and they've been having some problems over there."  
  
"Are you sure it's safe to tell them this?" Jordan took a sip of his water and gave Willow a doubtful look.  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow. "What? You're having trouble with 'Wolfram & Hart'?  
  
Jordan choked on the water and Buffy frowned and turned to her friend: "I think I speak for both of us when I say: Huh?!"  
  
"I really don't know that much." Willow said and smiled a little at their reactions. "It's just that I've kept in touch with Cordelia and she has more than one time mentioned this troublesome law firm in L.A. that defends demons and other bad things."  
  
"God this is creepy!" Buffy's eyes were wide and she looked horrified.  
  
"Yeah, I know, they represented this master vampire who was after young women and..."  
  
"No, not that. You're really keeping in touch with Cordelia?!"  
  
Willow gave her friend a sad smile. Buffy had spent too much time on the dark side of life; she was actually more surprised that Willow talked to Cordelia than the fact that there was a law firm that represented demons.  
  
Graham had to smile. "Who is Cordelia?" He asked the obvious question.  
  
"Oh, she's a high school enemy of mine. She moved to L.A. after graduation and is now working for 'Angel Investigations'". Willow roamed around in her backpack and found a business card, which she handed to Jordan. "They take those weird cases nobody else can handle because general investigators don't know what they are dealing with."  
  
"And these people do?" Jordan asked skeptically but with a little bit of hope in his voice.  
  
"Oh yes, they definitely do." Buffy stated in a tone that made the guys want to ask more about those investigators, but their food was served and as if they were following an unspoken rule they left the unpleasant topic during the meal. The four of them had a nice lunch and talked about this and that, just common things.  
  
"Are you ladies coming to our party tonight?" Graham asked the girls when the dessert arrived.  
  
"Yes, of course we are, what do you think we have been shopping for all day?" Buffy answered simply, then smiled. "Riley invited us both a couple of days ago."  
  
"Finally he did something right." Graham muttered.  
  
"What? You don't like Riley?!"  
  
"Of course I do, he is my best friend. Sometimes it just bugs me that he is so clueless about the things we deal with everyday..."  
  
"Give the guy a break, Graham, it's not everybody who grow up with a slayer and spend their childhood days buried in dusty old books studying demonology...in fact, I think you are quite unique." Jordan smiled to take the edge of his words.  
  
"Well, I kind of did that too..." Willow smiled shyly. "At least since sophomore year in high school, that's when Buffy transferred to Sunnydale."  
  
"And you were called in 1995, weren't you?" Jordan asked Buffy but kept an eye on his brother. The girls wondered why, but Graham seemed to find the flower arrangement on the table very interesting. "Say around may 14th?"  
  
Graham suddenly rose, obviously very uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "I think I'll go get some coffee, you want some?"  
  
"I'll go with you." Willow offered and followed him to the coffee table. "I'm sorry." She said and put cups on the tray he held up.  
  
"For what?" He sounded surprised.  
  
"I don't know...sorry that you feel uncomfortable?"  
  
"Oh, it's not your fault my brother talks about the wrong things. He thinks I should have got over it years ago, but he wasn't the one who was there...I know this is confusing for you, but..."  
  
"I'm not asking anything, but if and when you want to talk about it, I promise I'll be there for you." Willow put down the pot after pouring coffee in the cups and looked at him. She couldn't help but blush when she met his gaze.  
  
"You're really amazing, do you know that?" Graham smiled and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before they walked back to the others at the table.  
  
*Oh my!* Willow almost skipped all the way back and was really glad it was Graham who carried the tray with coffee and not her.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


	8. The Party

Part 8: The Party  
  
"He kissed her!" Jordan sounded much more surprised than Buffy had expected him to.  
  
"Yeah, sweet, isn't it?" She looked at Graham and Willow, who were now approaching them, and smiled.  
  
"Sure, but you don't understand; He hasn't even touched a girl since Madeleine!"  
  
"Madeleine? Was she the girl who died?"  
  
"Died?!" Jordan frowned. "No, she's very much alive and I hope I don't have to see her any time soon."  
  
"Okay, now I'm confused."  
  
"Madeleine was Graham's High School Sweetheart, but she failed him at the worst time of his life and he hasn't find the courage to trust a girl after that."  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Later that evening:  
  
"Hi Graham!"  
  
Graham turned around with a smile on his face, a smile that faded when he saw the two girls who had talked to him. Over the loudness of the party it was very hard to different the voices and in a brief and hopeful moment he had thought the voice belonged to one of the two girls he actually wanted to see. Instead, in front of him were now the two tiresome girls in the JAVA class where he assisted professor Whitfield.  
  
"Hi." He said without enthusiasm. The girls didn't seem to notice his lack of interest, but started to drown him in details about their clothes, haircuts and diets he never wanted to hear. His manners made him stay and smile and make uninteresting small talk, while his mind screamed for a rescue.  
  
¤You are an impatient one, aren't you?¤ The soft, teasing voice in his head was all too familiar and he could almost feel the colour fade from his face. He quickly excused himself to the girls and went up to his room and locked the door.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Willow suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and Buffy continued to walk a few steps before she noticed.  
  
"Willow?" Buffy turned around and went back to her friend.  
  
"Come on, Buffy, we have to hurry!" Willow said in between breaths and started a half-run with Buffy now two steps behind.  
  
"Well, if we need to hurry, then why did you stop?!" Buffy asked confused.  
  
"I got a vision."  
  
"You got a vision?! What was it about? Do you usually get visions?"  
  
"I don't really know. All I know is that I saw Graham at the party being way too nice to those two shallow girls in JAVA class, okay?"  
  
"Okay, we have to hurry." Buffy stated seriously.  
  
"Thank you, Buffy." Willow gave her a little smile.  
  
They arrived a little late to the party, two hours to be exact, and Willow was worried about finding Graham with some other girl. She usually did that at parties, but then she hadn't really cared because she didn't know him. *Do you know him now?* She asked herself and the answer to that had to be negative. Although they had spent last evening, night and today's lunch together, she couldn't really say she knew him yet...*And I definitely haven't got any claim on him...*  
  
Buffy heard Willow sigh a little and knew the sound of 'someone who just gave up' when she heard it. "Don't do that! We'll go find him, you'll see." She tried to reassure Willow, who didn't seem to buy it.  
  
"Yeah, sure, whatever, he probably found a much prettier girl during the two hours I was late..." Willow pouted.  
  
"After the time you have spent with Graham Miller during the past 24 hours, do you really think that's the case?" Buffy raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, I don't know..." Willow shrugged. ¤Hey, look up the stairs!¤ A voice in her head told her and she felt a little nudge in her ribs. "Ow Buffy, stop tickling me!" She giggled and turned towards her now worried friend.  
  
"I haven't touched you, Will." Buffy answered puzzled. "But I've found your guy..." She smiled and pointed towards the stairs where Graham came down from the second floor, alone.  
  
The smile on Graham's face when he saw Willow was bright enough to compare to sunlight and that was exactly how she felt; like she had been in the dark for a long time and suddenly the sun shone down on her. He took the last steps two at the time and was with her in seconds.  
  
"Good evening, ladies." He said politely and made a little bow.  
  
"And good evening to you, kind Sir." Buffy smiled and made a curtsy pretending she had a long gown. "How's the party?"  
  
"Loud and boring, until you arrived of course. I really wish we could have gone to the 'Scooby meeting' like we planned instead."  
  
"We still can, we are supposed to meet up at Giles' at eleven." Willow smiled conspiratorially.  
  
Graham looked at his watch. "So, two hours of partying. Would you like to dance?" He asked Willow, who looked at him as she didn't really understand. "Willow?"  
  
"This is a slow song..." She told him.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"And you want to dance...with me?"  
  
"Yes, well, if you want to that is...no, it doesn't really matter if you want to or not, I really want to dance with you anyway, only I wouldn't do it if you didn't..."  
  
"Geez Graham, you sound like me! Of course I want to dance with you!" Willow smiled and seemed to have regained her self-confidence during his ramble.  
  
Buffy watched Graham take Willow in his arms on the dance floor before she went on her own boyfriend-search. She found Riley, Forrest and some other guy, who she now assumed was an Initiative soldier too and just as she got inside hearing range Forrest asked: "Who's Graham's new girl?" And he said it in a tone that made Buffy frown. It sounded like Graham used to pick up new girls every weekend or so.  
  
Riley and the other guy looked the way Forrest indicated. "That's Willow!" Riley said a little surprised, but smiled when he remembered the conversation with Graham this morning.  
  
"Willow who? Do you know her? And why have you kept a beauty like that from the rest of us?" Forrest was nearly wining.  
  
"Maybe I didn't want you to get your dirty hands on her." Riley teased and got hit over the head by his friend.  
  
"But you introduced her to Graham?"  
  
"No, not that I didn't think about it, but he did that on his own."  
  
"Well, good for him, I don't think I've ever seen him enjoy female company before." The third guy suddenly spoke up.  
  
A little relieved by his comment, Buffy chose that moment to acknowledge her presence to her boyfriend. "Hi there!" She smiled and hugged him.  
  
"Hi Buffy." He mumbled in her hair and drew her closer and his friends took that as their cue to leave the couple.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


	9. The Scooby Meeting

Part 9: The Scooby Meeting  
  
"Who's that girl?!" Carrie Borden asked very annoyed as she looked at the red headed girl in the arms of Graham Miller and she really wish she could be there herself. The only reason she had ever considered to take a computer class was that she heard he was going to TA it and when the class started she did everything to get him to notice her and she really thought she had succeeded; Graham was always so nice and seemed very interested in everything she said and she had been so sure that he was falling for her...until now.  
  
"That's the other girl in our computer class!" Carrie's friend Lana told her.  
  
"What other girl?"  
  
The stunningly beautiful girl, who danced very close to Graham, was quite tall, but thin. She had fiery red hair and big, green eyes and she was dressed in wooden green leather pants, high heel boots, and a see-through shirt in the same colour as the pants with a black satin top underneath. Carrie was sure she had never seen her before, until she saw the girl smile and tuck her hair behind the ear. The small gesture was quite familiar and Carrie recognized the shy, quiet and meek girl in the JAVA class.  
  
"No way!"  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
"You look very beautiful tonight." Graham told Willow on the dance floor.  
  
"Thank you, so do you." She smiled and blushed a little at his words. She almost couldn't believe it; here she was dancing closely to one of the most handsome guys she had seen and she felt surprisingly comfortable in his arms. Two days ago Willow had been convinced that nobody in the world wanted her, but now...maybe there was hope. That was what the spirit in her dream had told her, to not give up hope of love...  
  
"I have to tell you something." Graham started a bit unsure and loosened his grip on her when the music changed to a faster beat.  
  
"I'm listening." Willow looked up at his serious face and became a little worried. *I knew this was too good to be true! Of course he has a girlfriend or something, everybody has somebody...but me.*  
  
"Not here, maybe we can take a walk?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Good." Graham took her hand and they started to make their way through the people towards the front door.  
  
They had almost reached the door when it opened and revealed Xander and Anya on the doorstep. "Hey Wills, where's Buffy?" Xander asked as soon as he saw Willow.  
  
"I don't know exactly, probably with Riley, why? What's the matter?" Willow asked now worried.  
  
"It's the 'bat signal' and a big one this time."  
  
"Oh, okay, I'll find her, just a minute! Will you excuse me?" She turned to Graham, who just nodded and let go of her hand.  
  
Graham studied the couple before him and came to a conclusion: "You must be Xander, Willow's best friend from her childhood?" He asked the dark-haired boy.  
  
Xander just stared at the tall, muscular and - objectively spoken of course - handsome man before him and was too surprised to say more than just some consonants. "Hthfdnt?"  
  
"Oh, Willow talked a lot about you last night." Graham smiled and enjoyed watching Xander's eyes widen in shock.  
  
"Aw, Willow is having sex again, isn't that sweet? I was very worried that she would join a convent or something, which would be a total waste of her fantastic body, don't you agree...eh, what's your name?" Anya smiled at him.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. I'm Graham." He introduced himself to the woman who was so honest and free-spoken that he immediately understood who she was. "And you are Anya, right? How's vengeance these days?"  
  
"Very slow, they don't make vengeance demons like they used to...hey, how did you know that?!"  
  
Graham didn't have the time to answer, because Willow just arrived with Buffy. "Guess you'll get that Scooby meeting sooner than planned." Willow smiled at him.  
  
"I guess." He took her hand again when they went outside.  
  
"Eh, Willow?" Xander started when he noticed Graham was still present.  
  
"Don't worry, Xander, Graham knows about us and he can help, so we invited him to the meeting tonight." Willow smiled reassuringly at her oldest friend and when Buffy nodded in agreement, Xander let go of the subject.  
  
"Okay, if you say so..."  
  
"Now, what's the big hurry?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well, what do you think? It's a new big bad in town!" Xander teased then became serious. "It was actually Spike who alarmed us, he said we should come up with a plan to vanquish this baddie and rather fast."  
  
"Spike wanted a plan?! This I have to hear by myself!" Buffy smiled.  
  
They soon arrived to Giles' house and had to go over the 'this is Graham and he knows about vampires' again, but it went pretty smoothly. Giles welcomed him and said that all reinforcements were very well needed.  
  
"So what's the news?" Buffy asked and flopped down in an armchair.  
  
"Well, it seems a very old and dangerous vampire has come to Sunnydale in the last couple of days. Spike ran into one of this vampire's minions tonight at the Ravingdale Cemetary."  
  
"...and then the former big bad ran away scared to death...or maybe dust?" Buffy teased when Spike emerged from he kitchen.  
  
"Not really, slayer, the minion is dust though. Hey, we have a visitor! Or did you bring me dinner?" Spike smiled evilly when he noticed the new member of the slayerettes.  
  
"Drop the act, Spike." Graham said and tried to hide his smile.  
  
"Hello Miller-boy, how's life?" Spike dropped his smile and sat down in Giles' couch.  
  
"Pretty good now, I think." Graham sat down beside the vampire with Willow on his other side. "How's undeath?"  
  
"You two know each other?!" Xander said shocked.  
  
"He saved my life."  
  
"Oh dear. You are Graham Miller, from Orlando Florida?" Giles' asked to the others' surprise.  
  
"Yes, Watcher." Graham stressed the last word a bit and the Scoobies gave him puzzled looks.  
  
"Oh dear." Giles repeated his favourite expression as he sat down at his desk. "My condolences."  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


	10. Angelin

Part 10: Angelin  
  
"Okay, can you please tell me what you are talking about?" Xander asked very puzzled. "The new guy doesn't just know about vampires, he knows about slayers and watchers too?!"  
  
Giles' looked at Graham, who slightly nodded his agreement for Giles to tell the story. "Graham Miller is the only boy, who was ever trained as a slayer." Giles started and was immediately interrupted by a storm of 'What?!', 'Why?!' and 'How?!'.  
  
"Hey, shut up you sissys and let the watcher talk!" Spike said and earned a scowl from the slayer and annoyed looks from the others. "What? It's quite an interesting story..." He smiled brightly.  
  
"Well, I think I start with the 'why'." Giles continued. "You know the Watchers Council is constantly searching for girls with the ability to become slayers, Kendra was one. They are hopefully found early in their lives and will be prepared and trained for their duty. They are called 'slayers-in-training' and Angelin Miller was one of those."  
  
"Oh Goddess..." Willow's voice was barely a whisper when she finally understood who Graham's slayer had been. She took his hand in hers and earned a sad smile from him.  
  
Giles' eyes became a little dreamy when he went on with the story. "I was with the Council in London when the request from the watcher Anna-Belle Hurley came in. It seemed that she had found promising slayer qualities in not only her 'slayer-in-training', but in the girl's twin brother as well and the request was to be allowed to include him in the training. It took several months for the Council to decide whether or not this was a good idea, since a boy could never be chosen as a slayer, nevertheless could he be of great help for his sister, was she the chosen one." Giles turned to Graham. "I don't believe Anna-Belle waited for an answer from the Council before starting your training, did she?"  
  
"No, she really didn't." Graham smile was now less sad and more roguish. "I don't even know why she bother to ask for permission when she already had included me in the training and lessons from the beginning."  
  
"That's what I thought." Giles smiled. "So, at the age of thirteen Angelin was called and she was very good, actually the best sofar in the 20th century..."  
  
"Except for Buffy, right?" Xander asked a little offended on his friend's behalf.  
  
"No, I'm sorry Buffy, but Angelin was resourceful and had your ability of improvise together with Kendra's dedication to the duty."  
  
"So, what did you do to her on her eighteenth birthday?" Buffy asked slightly jealous of this girl who had Giles' admiration.  
  
"Nothing, she never reached eighteen..." Was Giles' sad answer.  
  
"What? Why? If she was as good as you say, she would still live, right Giles?" Willow asked very curious.  
  
"I don't really know what happened. All I know was that in the spring of 1995 we were informed that another watcher, Merrick, had been sent to California to find the next slayer - Buffy Summers."  
  
"Oh." Buffy looked quite taken aback by this information. She had met the two slayers succeeding her but for natural reasons none of the ones before her. It suddenly struck her that just because neither Kendra nor Faith had had family or friends, she might not be the only slayer in history who had. Those girls, the slayers who preceded her, some of them may have had people close to them, family and friends who were now grieving them...and one of them was here. She looked over at Graham, who sat beside Willow on the couch holding her hand like he never wanted to let her go. "I'm so sorry." Buffy quietly told him and got a small smile in return.  
  
"Didn't the watcher write anything in her diary about the death of her slayer?" Anya suddenly piped up.  
  
"No, just the date." Giles said and turned to Graham. "Maybe you know more?"  
  
Graham was quiet for a while, then decided to finally tell somebody of the worst memory of his life: "She was killed by a vampire king named Lucian." He spit the name out with a lot of hold back anger. "He lured her to a dungeon by the beach and tortured her in more ways than I ever wanted to know existed. I think it went on for hours before he finally drained her blood."  
  
"How come she didn't fight him off? I mean the greatest slayer of the century..." Xander asked.  
  
"She couldn't, he got a hold on her and if you excuse me I'll go get some fresh air." Graham suddenly rose and went for the door.  
  
"Wait, I'll go with you!" Willow got up from the couch and went after him.  
  
"No offence, but I want to be alone for a while..."  
  
"Oh, okay..." Willow watched him leave and then sat down again, a worried look on her face.  
  
"I don't get it!" Xander frowned. "She was better than Buffy, but she let the vampire do all those horrible things to her?!"  
  
"You really are a moron, I hardly believe she let him." Spike said his voice full of despise for the boy.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder what hold he got on her, I wish nobody ever get that on me..." Buffy said as she wrapped a sweater around her suddenly chilled body.  
  
"He must have been there, how else could he have seen her being tortured and killed...God, that must have been so horrible." Willow whispered and looked at the door where Graham had left.  
  
"But why didn't he do anything? He was trained as a slayer, right? Why did he just sit there and watch her die?!" Anya asked annoyance in her voice and Xander nodded in agreement with her question.  
  
Willow became really angry with her friends for their assumptions, she didn't thought Graham could ever just sit and watch anybody die, much less his twin sister, he would have done everything in his power to save her. She opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a defense from a direction nobody had imagine.  
  
"Well, I don't think either of you had contributed very much if you were chained to a stone wall and had a skewer through your gut." Spike said and his voice as cold as the looks he gave the ex-demon and her boy.  
  
Five pair of eyes looked at the vampire in disbelief while the meaning of his words slowly sank into their minds.  
  
"God, he was the vampire's hold on her..." Buffy whispered with tear-filled eyes and Willow broke down crying.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


End file.
